Upcoming in 2004...

The Privileged Planet by Guillermo Gonzalez & Jay Richards To be released in March, 2004. I heard a lecture by Gonzalez & Richards in June regarding their book and theory of the Privileged Planet. Essentially, they posit that we have a habitable planet and that habitability correlates with measurability - the same narrow circumstances that allow us to exist also provide us with the best overall setting for making scientific discoveries. What we see here are Intelligent Design proponents from the Discovery Institute taking the proposal a step further. If there is a Designer, what qualities should we expect to find, either in that Designer, in that Designer's designs or, in the world that Designer provides for us? The Christian Worldview not only allows for, but flourishes in scientific discovery. This is because we see God as Sovereign over Nature, not as a part of it. As such, wouldn't we expect God to provide us with the means to discover truths within His creation? Among the examples that Gonzalez & Richards will review are: Perfect solar eclipses, Plate tectonics, Galactic location, and Fine-tuned cosmos, just to name a few. Perfect solar eclipses? - the apparent size of the moon in the sky perfectly eclipses the sun during a total solar eclipse. This little feature has allowed us to measure the effects of general relativity, detect the chromosphere, and reveal stars as hot balls of gas. So, what's the big deal? The big deal is that there is no physical reason why the moon has to be just the right size to just cover the sun. Alone, it's a coincidence. With the list of other features provided it becomes evidence for the Designer.